New method on cards to survey grain loss, waste

The government has decided to devise modalities for assessing post-harvest foodgrain loss and waste, including credible information on production, to ensure year-round food security, according to sources.
State entities like departments of agricultural extension and agriculture marketing have been asked to formulate the modalities, which will be sent to agricultural ministry by November.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the DAE will provide technical assistance and required manpower respectively to prepare the method.
"This decision is expected to get better and accurate data of foodgrain production, loss and waste to help ensure overall domestic food security," said an official.
All the figures would be made more acceptable to all stakeholders concerned in a coordinated manner, he added.
Currently, agriculture ministry only calculates foodgrain production, according to the official.
Neither BBS nor food ministry does any calculation of post-harvest loss and food loss, including human demand for foodgrains, industrial demand, seed demand, fishery and livestock demand.
"So, there is a problem in planning food production, export and import."
Besides, the high cost of foodgrains casts doubt on the production data despite the substantial production of foodgrains, he also mentioned.
There is no single institution at home to assess human and other needs of foodgrains and determine the acceptable amount of post-harvest loss and food waste, reads an agriculture ministry document.
Although BBS is responsible for providing statistics on foodgrains, it says, there is a discrepancy between the statistics obtained from DAE and data published by food ministry and the information supplied by BBS.
BBS and DAE only synchronise production volumes of paddy, wheat, potato and jute. But data on the production of crops like onion shows wide variations.
Besides, the support of SPARSO (Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation) is taken when there is a difference in the assessment of arable land between BBS and DAE.
However, due to SPARSO's technical limitations, they cannot provide satellite images smaller than 10-square metres. The amount of arable land provided by the DAE, BBS and SPARSO also varies considerably, it explains.
A senior official said an estimated 10.6-million tonnes of potato were produced in fiscal year 2023-24 and it was synchronised data. But the price increased despite its low demand against the production volume.
BBS has submitted a project on non-human use of foodgrains to the Planning Commission which is awaiting approval.
According to the Statistics Act 2013, the information provided by BBS is considered official data.
However, various departments/organisations often send any information/report to BBS, and no objection certificate (NOC) is obtained by BBS, which is recognised as official information.
According to the document, agriculture ministry has already formed a committee to fix post-harvest loss and food waste.
In a preparatory meeting, the committee agreed that it was not possible to calculate accurate data without any detailed scientific study.
A DAM official says food is lost mainly in urban areas. In rural areas, surplus food is used as fish and animal feed or as fertiliser. A large amount of rice is currently used as fish feed.
In September 2023, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC).
"BARC can take technical assistance from them in the manner in which ICAR collects data on production, demand and various aspects of foodgrains through surveys," the official tells the FE.
According to a DAM director, there is no data on foodgrain consumption in the country and that there is a problem in determining foodgrain prices.
"Even there is no information on foodgrain stocks, so it's difficult to decide on the extent of export/import of foodgrains."
Despite several attempts, agriculture secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian could not be contacted for comment.
When asked, DAE director general Md Saiful Alam said, "The government is going to create modalities to ensure the rational distribution of produced foodgrains to people."
"The system will help the government take necessary action to assist foodgrain producers and farmers through policy support so that the government will be able to ensure sufficient grain production."
Currently, 5.0-30 per cent foodgrains are lost and wasted after harvest here.

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